Latest Contact Center Best Practices

In a recent study, an astounding 67% of customers have stated a preference for self-service as opposed to speaking to a live representative (ZenDesk). Previously viewed as a burden imposed on consumers, the self-service arena has today become an essential part of the average consumer experience. And as one considers each major industry, the rapid adoption of self-service solutions is readily apparent everywhere. Grocery stores have self-check out lines, airlines offer Kiosks (have yet to figure out how to apply it to Homeland Security lines, though), restaurants use self-service reservations – the list goes on. Each of these initiatives involves one person, and one person only: the customer.

The importance of self-service in the contact center space is no exception. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technologies are leading the charge, providing customers the ability to quickly and easily access any information by selecting options from a simple menu. What was at first an effort for contact centers to improve operational efficiencies and reduce costs, has since become an industry standard. And with 69% of customers equating a good customer experience to how quickly an inquiry is resolved, the need to adopt the latest technology facilitating their ability to do so has never been more important.

I am working with a mortgage broker to refinance my home. The mortgage broker uses a number of tools to communicate with his clients and seems to be pretty tech savvy. I found out that he uses Salesforce.com because he invited me to communicate with him using Chatter.

An article about contact center trends recently caught my eye. The article, found here at Nearshore Americas: The Eight Most Influential Contact Center Trends, hones in on eight contact center trends for 2014. However, I would like to focus on the six trends that I believe are most important.

The first trend in the article is fitting in the cloud. Many contact centers have already moved to the cloud by using software solutions, but most are still premise-based. The cloud provides huge advantages for contact centers including scalability and speed of deployment. Security and reliability were once liabilities, but are becoming stronger on the cloud. Small and medium sized businesses are expected to move to the cloud. However, as the article states, large outsourced call centers will probably not make the change just yet.

In recent years, I feel as though my customer service expectations have risen tremendously. I am not completely sure why this is the case, but I know it has something to do with the technological advancements that our society has made. So many companies used to be able to get away with poor customer service because it was difficult for their customers to research them before hand, and harder for them to make the switch to a different company. Now, marketing is a two-way street; customers can post reviews on Facebook, Angie’s List, blogs and twitter regarding their experiences with companies. These customers can now project their opinions to thousands of people, if not more, and speak either highly or poorly of the companies with which they are doing business. Also, switching companies is now a matter of a quick and easy phone call. Companies can no longer get away with cutting any corners, and it has become a priority for many to re-vamp their customer service departments to ensure that they will not be brought down by negative reviews.

When it comes to finding a software solution for your cloud-based contact center, there are two very important things to consider. The first is obviously whether the solution or technology offering fits your business needs. The second is the much less obvious, but ultimately just as important. What does this company offer in terms of technical customer support services?